I'm in grad school now. It has been easier than I thought it would be. Most of the teachers are too important to interact with much, but the teaching assistants are helpful. The benefit of grad school is that you only have to study the topics that interest you--no chemistry, biology, trigonometry for me.

Good luck with those exams! And no, I have no idea how to determine the half-life of a compound...except Google.

Ahhh, the college years - they were four brutal years of 3 semesters a year, working to pay for tuition and such. But ya, some of the best times.

Of course, back then our tablets were made of stone, we used cuneiform to take notes, hammer and chisel to make punch cards to program Fortran subroutines. I don't think much has changed since then...

OH.. bad teachers, ya... Calculus prof who graduated from Harvard at 18 who had no clue about teaching, still working on his PHD project to invert a 24x24 matrix or something like that... knew everything about anything to do with any professional sports, couldn't drive because his eyesight was so bad, hit a police officer while taking his driving exam, rode a bike back and forth to classes while wearing a football helmet for protection. A bit eccentric. Flunked his class with half of his students, and aced the replacement class.

OH.. bad teachers, ya... Calculus prof who graduated from Harvard at 18 who had no clue about teaching, still working on his PHD project to invert a 24x24 matrix or something like that... knew everything about anything to do with any professional sports, couldn't drive because his eyesight was so bad, hit a police officer while taking his driving exam, rode a bike back and forth to classes while wearing a football helmet for protection. A bit eccentric. Flunked his class with half of his students, and aced the replacement class.

Correct. Technically, in the U.S., a university is made up of a number of colleges. For example, Johns Hopkins University has a college of arts and sciences, a college of international studies, a college of medicine, etc. However, we typically use the term "college" to refer to an entire university.

I regret that I spent so much time studying and so little time being involved in social activities and sports. Grades aren't everything. Don't neglect the friendships you will make or cool activities you can be apart of.

Stratics Veteran

University is pretty fantastic, especially if you can work in your field during the summers. Really though, higher education is what you make of it. My suggestions would be:

Be active in the college community, whether that's in study groups, student union stuff, leadership roles. Participation in the community helps you get outside your own head and in the case of leadership roles, is something which looks VERY good on a CV.

Get to know your professors' research interests. Professors aren't just stale automaton whose job it is to relay information to you, they have their own interests well beyond Psych 1000. Getting to know your professors and their interests can open up a source of vitality and excitement which you just don't get when they're teaching students about the visual cliff for the thousandth time. Plus, professors can become friends, they can supervise your honors/masters thesis, or give you good references.

Take as many electives as you can in subjects which you don't have experience with; there's little more important than avoiding academic monoculturalism. You don't want to be in the middle of your M.Sc and not know in a non-wikipedian way about philosophy, history, anthropology... Getting a well-rounded education, especially for your undergrad, is something you keep with you for the rest of your life.

Education is the best thing you can do for yourself in life, take advantage of it

One mantra through the college thing though that helps the positive perspective -imho- is that 'the world will still be there when you get done.' Oh and ALWAYS as an always habit - get the homework out of the way before other whatnots. If you complete (& understand) the assigned homework same day asap - strait up you should get at least a 3.x when it's all over no sweat and have lots of time for other stuff - whatever your stuff is. Teachers/professors (like ANY other profession) are just people some suck and some don't. Make trig your friend, looks like it's gonna be a constant for your direction. The done part is very valuable/nice to have if you need it & you can never lose it, makes for a wider array of job options, along with a good sense of accomplishment & practice of finishing/accomplishing things.

Jr & Sr levels take alot more effort it seemed I opted to not work & obtain the full amount student loan value - it seemed good way to maintain sanity - don't take more than 4 or 5 at that level per semester (unless you're some freaky genius) - If need be dropping one in that early enough window if it looks like a bad semester combo. The world will still be there if it takes a few months - year or two longer than you'd initially envisioned/planned..

Still; Whether it's college, hitchhiking/traveling cross country, embarking on something new, fixing stuff, making lasagna, etc., er what ev-er ... it's all in what you make it and how you enjoy or fight the ride and how much you mind the wheel 'n map making/following.

Best Wishes! I had a blast with it & did well - so makes for fond memory at this point which is kewl... Happy Day.

Stratics Veteran

I just found an article and thought of this thread. It's about the difficulty a lot of graduates have in finding a job after graduating. It really highlights the importance of exceeding in university way beyond getting good marks - you've got to make connections and get references -- do things that truly make you stand out beyond every other kid who got a 4.0.

Edit: I've got to respect the person interviewed for the article who gauges jobs by whether or not they could have done them prior to getting their degree.

If I was going to be the kind of guy whose face you'd want to punch (more so that usual...) I'd say that I chose a modern renaissance education. Basically it was characterized by people asking me what my major is and having to reply, "it depends on who you ask..."

Technically I'm not a liberal arts guy though. I just spent a few extra years in my undergrad to really round out my education with classes from all the disciplines I could, getting to know my professors and working along the way. But even if you continue your education it's still a really good idea to take classes outside of your comfort zone and hang out with people from all over the academic spectrum.

Reading though the article quickly - the glaring Lesson Learned there is research your “interests” [with guidance counselor as that's their job and they have good resources at finger tips as well as self-search] so as not to ‘willy-nilly’ invest precious time in a curriculum (that seems 'interesting') that will not likely sustain a future life style desired. Projections as to job market, various job opportunities and associated income ranges are not stabs in the dark if time is taken to choose a scholastic path with clarity of what the future could offer before committing to a major (and how gung-ho one is). Studies such as engineering, for one, and many others set fairly reliable course for likely future demands & needs and flexibility therein. “American Studies” that Stacks the hero of the article followed and other similar academia studies securing doctorates to work thereafter within a university does indeed put a grave limit to opportunities in forecast job market realities.

Without a doubt just cause one got ‘a bachelors degree’ or better in something interesting surely does not ensure a good job – but it can help of care is taken to research at the onset of realistic opportunities and the associated pay and future forecast demand & yes prepare oneself to compete with extra ammo packed from the extra's to stand out and above the competition.

The 3 following excerpts sum up Stack’s willy-nilliness rolleyes:concisely:

Like a lot of us, Stacks was given a fairly straightforward version of how his life would unfold: He would go to college and study something he found interesting, graduate, and get a decent job. Stacks, who now is 27, went to the University of Virginia, not far from where he grew up, majoring in American Studies. He later enrolled in a Ph.D. program at the University of Iowa, with the eventual goal of becoming a professor

For Stacks in particular, the most severe toll hasn’t been a loss of income, but feelings of estrangement and isolation.

“People kept asking me, ‘If you have a master’s degree and you went to UVA, why are you here? Shouldn’t you be somewhere else?

Click to expand...

Fleeting thoughts

who gave him the so called fairly straightforward version??? fairly vague and shallow - it was probably Bill Nilly

But I'm biased so ... just an opinion of logic here.

Money doesn't buy happiness either but meaningful work even if through volunteerism can be very rewarding in a deeper right.

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